Colorado’s Douglas County school district has paid $2.2 million in a sexual assault lawsuit settlement to resolve a federal lawsuit filed by parents alleging a teacher sexually assaulted a student.

The sexual assault lawsuit settlement was reached on May 23, 2016, after two preceding years of litigation. Reportedly, the settlement was paid by the district’s insurance policy, leaving the school district itself to pay only the deductible.

As part of the sexual assault lawsuit settlement deal, the parents have agreed to keep details of the agreement confidential, whereas the school district is not required to do the same.

In 2014, parents filed a lawsuit against Douglas County School District, former Rocky Heights Middle School principal Patricia Dierberger and former Rocky Heights assistant principal James McMurphy, according to an article in the Highlands Ranch Herald. The parents claimed that the defendants ignored reports that a former teacher was exhibiting predatory behavior towards their child.

The teacher in question, Richard Johnson, was both an eighth-grade teacher at Rocky Heights Middle School and a basketball coach at Rock Canyon High School. He is currently serving 20 years in prison for two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Johnson reportedly left the school district in March 2012, and was arrested in November of the same year after the victim and her parents reported him to the Douglas County Sherif’s Office.

Allegedly, multiple parents and students reported disturbing interactions between Johnson and the student, but the school district failed to take action. According to the parents, these incidents took place during the 2010-11 academic year and the following summer, when the student was 13 years old.

The Douglas County sexual assault lawsuit claimed that the school district and the administrators field to follow state mandatory reporting obligations in response to complaints filed about Johnson’s interactions with the student. The Colorado sexual assault lawsuit also claimed that the school district did not instruct and train its employees on how to properly handle sexual misconduct.

Reportedly, both principal Dierberger and assistant principal McMurphy did admit to a detective at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office that they did not conduct an investigation after reports and been filed about Johnson’s alleged conduct towards the student.

In the sexual assault lawsuit settlement, the Douglas County School District and other defendants do not admit any wrongdoing and “specifically deny all allegations made about them in the Lawsuit.”

In recent years, stories of sexual assault have received increased media attention. As more and more victims tell their stories, it is becoming evident that many people experience sexual assault and harassment in their places of employment, in schools, or in athletic or medical settings.

If you were the victim of sexual assault in a school, medical, employment, or athletic setting, you may have a legal claim. In some cases, institutions can be held accountable for cases of sexual assault, if they are found to have not complied with reporting protocol, did not do enough to prevent the assault, or did not respond appropriately in the wake of an incident. Joining a sexual assault lawsuit could help you gain compensation for physical, emotional, or financial injury you suffered as the result of your assault.